Transportation – Life Processes

 All living organisms are made of cell (unicellular or multicellular). In order to survive
and maintain themselves, all cells require oxygen and nutrients.
 As they perform various metabolic activities, waste products like CO2, ammonia, urea
etc., are formed in the cells. These harmful substances must be removed from the
body to avoid their accumulation to harmful level.
 Thus the oxygen and nutrients are to be transported to all cells/tissues as well as body
wastes is also to be transported to the excretory organs.
 In complex multicellular organisms, special organs are needed to pick up oxygen,
food, water, etc., and carry them to the required places.
 The transport of substances like oxygen, food, water, enzyme, hormones etc., inside
the body of an organism is called internal transport and the organs which carry out
this transport within the body together constitute the internal transport system.

Transportation in Humans

 Transportation in humans is done by the circulatory system.

 It comprises of a blood vascular system and a lymphatic system.
 The blood vascular system has three components – blood, blood vessels and the heart.
The lymphatic system include lyumph, lymph nodes and lymph vessels.

Blood: .

 Blood is a fluid connective tissue that transport food, oxygen, carbon-dioxide,

nitrogenous waste etc.Blood is red because of the presence of red pigment called as
haemoglobin.
 Blood consists of two main components :
i) Plasma – Straw colored liquid (or fluid) part of the blood. It constitutes
about 55% of blood volume. It is made of water with various substances
dissolved in it. These include proteins, salt, glucose, nitrogenous
compounds, and so on. Blood cells are suspended in plasma. It transports
carbon dioxide and nitrogenous waste in dissolved form.
ii) Blood cells or corpuscles : Constitute about 4% of the blood. These
include Red blood cells (erythrocyte) , white blood cell (Leucocytes) and
platelets (Thrombocyte). WBCs help to destroy foreign particles and
germs in the body. Platelets help in blood clotting at the site of injury.

Functions of blood :
1. It helps in transport of nutrients to all parts of body for storage, oxidation and
synthesis of new substances.
2. It is involed in the transport of excretory products like urea, uric acid and
ammonia.
3. It helps in the transport of O2 and CO2 to all the tissues of body for respiration.
4. It is involved in the protection against diseases by engulfing the disease causing
microbes by phagocytosis.
5. The plasma of blood helps to transport hormones from their place of synthesis to
the target organs.
 6. Platelets present in blood form a clot at the site of inury to prevent further blood
loss.

Maintenance by platelets (Blood clotting)

 In case of any inury when bleeding occurs, loss of the lood from system
has to be minimised.
 Leakage leads to loss of pressure which reduces pumping system
efficiency.
 To prevent this, blood has platelet cells which circulate around the body
and forms a mesh like network or clot at the site of inury.
 Hence, blood clotting is a mechanism that prevents the loss of blood from
the site of injury or wound by forming a blood clot.

The heart

Heart: Heart is a muscular organ, which is composed of cardiac muscles.

  The size of our heart is big as our fist. The heart is a pumping organ which pumps the
blood.
 A sheath of tissue called ‘pericardium’ protects the muscular heart. Between the heart
and pericardium there is a fluid which is called pericardial fluid which reduces the
friction produced during heartbeat.
 The human heart is composed of four chambers.
 The upper two chambers are called atria whereas the lower two chambers are called
as ventricles.
 Its four different chambers are meant to prevent the mixing of oxygenated or oxygen
rich and deoxygenated or carbon rich blood.
 The different chambers of heart are as follows :
i. Atriia (Upper chamber) : There are two atria i.e left atrium and
right atrium, separated by an interauricular spetum. The walls of
atria are thin to receive the blood through veins.
ii. Ventricles (Lower chambers) : The two inferior chambers of the
heart are right ventricle and left ventricle separated by an
interventricular septum. Since, ventricles have to pump blood into
various organs with high pressure, they have thicker walls as
compared to atria.
Pumping action of heart :
 Left atrium receives oxygenated blood from lungs by pulmonary veins.
 Atria relax while receiving the blood it then contracts, while ventricle expands
so that the blood is transferred to it.
 As the left ventricle contracts, the blood is then pumped out for circulation in
the body.
 Right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from upper and lower parts of the
body by superior vena cava and inferior vena cava, respectively.
 During this collection right atria expands, it then contracts the blood is then
pumped to corresponding lower chamber i.e the right ventricle dilates.
 The blood from left atrium is passed to left ventricle through the opening
guarded by bicuspid valve (valve having two cusps or flaps) or mitral valve.
 Similary the blood from right atrium is passed to right ventricle, the opening is
guarded by tricuspid valve.
 The valves are the muscular flaps which ensures that blood does not flow
backwards when the atria or ventricles contract.
Blood vessels :
Blood vessles are a system of channel through which blood flows. Blood vessels are of three
kinds , namely arteries, veins and capillaries.

Arteries:
These blood vessels which carry blood from heart to various parts of the body. All arteries
(except pulmonary artery) carry oxygenated blood. Pulmonary arteries carry deoxygenated
blood from right ventricle to lungs. Arteries have thick, elastic and muscular walls to
withstand the high pressure of blood emerging from heart and they are not provided with
valves. I

Veins :
These are the blood vessels which carry blood from body parts towards the heart. All veins
(except pulmonary veins ) carry deoxygenated blood. Pulmonary veins carry deoxygenated
blood from lungs to left atrium. Veins have thin, less elastic and muscular walls in
comparison to arteries and carry blood at low pressure. The lumen of veins are provided with
valves to prevent the backflow of blood.

Capillaries :
These are fine microscopic vessels. Arteries branch out into smaller and smaller arterioles
which finally form capillaries. These capillaries oin to form venules , veins and finally vena
cava.Walls of capillaries is one cell thick. Through these thin walls, oxygen and carbon
dioxide, dissolved food and excretory products are exchanged with tissues.
Blood pressure :

 Systole: Contraction of cardiac muscles is called systole.

 Diastole: Relaxation of cardiac muscles is called diastole.

Blood pressure :

 The pressure at which blood is pumped against the wall of a vessel is calle
dblood pressure.
 The pressure is greater in artery than in veins.
 The pressure of blood inside the artery during ventriclar systole or contraction
phase, is called the systolic pressure.
  The pressure of blood in the artery during ventricular diastole or relaxation
phase is called diastolic pressure.
 The normal systolic pressure is about 120 mmHg and diastolic pressure is 80
mmHg.
 Blood pressure is measured by sphygmomanometer.
 High blood pressure is known as hypertension and is caused by the constriction
of arterioles
 It results in increased resistance to the flow of blood which may lead to the
rupture of an artery and causes internal bleeding.

Circulation of blood in animals :

A) In birds and mammals : Heart is four chambered. There is a separation of oxygenated

blood from deoxygenated blood in all including human. This allows a highly efficient
supply of oxygen to the body. This is because these animals have high energ needs.
They use this energy to maintain their body temperature. They are called warm-
blooded animals.
 All animals having four chambered hearts have double circulation in which the blood
passes through the heart ‘twice’ in one complete cardiac cycle of the body.
 In the human circulatory system, the pathway of blood from heart to lungs and back to
the heart is called pulmonary circulation and the pathway of blood from heart to rest
of the body and back to heart is alled systemic circulation. These two types of
circulation are called double circulation.
B) In fishes, two chambered heart is present and the blood is pumped to the gills, where
it gets oxygenated and supplied directly to the rest of the body. Blood goes only once
through the heart during one cycle of circulation. This is called single circulation.
C) In amphibians and reptiles, temperature of the body depends upon the temperature of
environment (cold blooded animals). They have three chambered heart (two atria and
single ventricle) and possess a double circulation. They can tolerate some mixing of
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. They do not use energy to maintain their body
tempertaure.
Note : Mostly reptiles have a three chambered heart. However, crocodile heart is four
chambered heart like that of birds and mammals.

Lymph (Tissue fluid)

When blood flows into thin capillaries some amount of plasma filters out of thin
capillaries. This colorless fluid is called interestitial fluid or tissue fluid or lymph. As
it bathes the cells and lies outside the cell, lymph is also called extracellular fluid. It s
colorless and contains lymphocytes. Unlike blood, lymph does not contain RBC ,
platelets and plasma proteins. Lymph flows in one direction that is from tissues to
heart..
From the intercellular space, lymphh drains into lymphatic capillaries, which oins to
form lymph vessels that finally open into larger veins.
The function of lymph are :
i. It transports fatty acids and glycerols from small intestine to blood.
ii. Lymphocytes present in it destroys harmful pathogens.
iii. It drains excess tissue fluid from intercellular spaces back into the blood.
iv. It carries lymphocytes and antibodies from lymph nodes to the blood.
v. Lymph nodes localise the infection and prevent it from spreading to other
body parts.
Lymph vessels along with lymph nodes and lymph glands constitute the lymphatic system.

S.No Characterstic Blood Lymph

1. Color Red in color Colorless

2. Components  Consists of plasma,  Consist of

erythrocytes, leucocytes plasma and
and platelets. leucocytes only.
 Contains several plasma  Contains fewer
proteins and high plasma proteins
concentration of calcium and low conc. of
and phoshorous. Ca and P.

3. Flow Flows rapidly Flow is very slow.

4. Direction of flow Path of circulation is heart to body Path of circulation is

organs and from body organs back from body tissues to
to heart. heart.

Transportation in Plants

 Transportation is a vital process in plants.

 The process involves the transportation of water and necessary nutrients to all parts of
the plant for its survival.
 Food and water transportation takes place separately in plants.

Plants have specialized vascular tissues for transportation of substances. There are two types
of vascular tissues in plants.

1. Xylem: Xylem is responsible for transportation of water and minerals. It is composed

of trachids, xylem vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibre. Tracheids and xylem
vessels are the conducting elements. The xylem makes a continuous tube in plants
which runs from roots to stem and right up to the veins of leaves.
 Carry water and minerals from the leaves to the other part of the plant.

2. Phloem: Phloem is responsible for transportation of food. Phloem is composed of

sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and bast fibers. Sieve tubes are the
conducting elements in phloem.

 Carries product of photosynthesis from roots to other part of the plant.

Ascent of sap: The upward movement of water and minerals from roots to different plant
parts is called ascent of sap. Many factors are at play in ascent of sap and it takes place in
many steps. They are explained as follows :

 Root pressure: The walls of cells of root hairs are very thin. Water from soil enters the
root hairs because of osmosis. Root pressure is responsible for movement of water up
to the base of the stem.
 Capillary action: A very fine tube is called capillaiy, water, or any liquid, rises in the
capillary because of physical forces and this phenomenon is called capillary action.
Water, in stem, rises up to some height because of capillaiy action.
 Adhesion-cohesion of water molecules: Water molecules make a continuous column in
the xylem because of forces of adhesion and cohesion among the molecules.
 Transpiration pull: Loss of water vapour through stomata and lenticels, in plants, is
called transpiration. Transpiration through stomata creates vacuum which creates a
suction, called transpiration pull. The transpiration pull sucks the water column from
the xylem tubes and thus, water is able to rise to great heights in even the tallest plants.
 Transport of food: Transport of food in plants happens because of utilization of
energy. Thus, unlike the transport through xylem, it is a form of active transport.
Moreover, the flow of substances through phloem takes place in both directions, i.e., it
is a two-way traffic in phloem.

 The transport of movement of soluble products of photosynthesis from

leaves to other parts of the plant is termed as translocation.
 Besides the product of photosynthesis, phloem also transports amino acids and
other substances (such as plant hormones). These substances are especially to
storage organs of roots, fruits, seeds and growing organs.
 Translocation of substances takes place in the sieve tubes with the help of
adjacent companion cells, both in upward and downward direction.

Functions

 Absorption and upward movement of water and minerals by creating pull.

 Helps in temperature regulation in plant.